I am staying in Manzanita for a weeks vacation in a about a month and I need a decent route to Manzanita from NE Portland. I have my trusty GET THERE BY BIKE map to get me through portland, but still could use any suggestions getting across the westside and suburbs too. I am thinking Hwy 6 to Tillamook? any stores or restaurants are greatly needed on the route, I'm going to keep it lite. Thanks.

s/w, try this link:http://www.portlandonline.com/transp...ex.cfm?c=39889
it has some details on route choices. The route shown to Manzanita (from Hillboro MAX to Hwy 26 to Nehalem Rd.) involves a goodly stretch of unpaved road along the Nehalem; I've done it with a load on 28c tyres but wouldn't attempt it on anything narrower. Beautiful ride, though! 26 is OK, high traffic but decent shoulder for the most. Hwy 6 is a nice, scenic ride, a lot lower traffic than 26, but going north along the coast back up to Manz. can be brutal with headwinds.

Personally, I loathe riding on Highway 26. Way too much traffic, way too many hills.

I like Highway 6 much better. Less traffic, more consistent shoulder, only 1 hill. As they say, the headwind as you go north from Tillamook is pretty tough, but you can get some relief by taking the Miami River Road, which you get on just before Garibaldi, and which takes you to Wheeler. It's a pretty and quiet road.

If you have fat tires and plenty of time (maybe take 2 days), the route that goes through these towns is good: Forest Grove, Glenwood, Timber, Vernonia, Mist, Jewell, Elsie, Salmonberry, Mohler, Nehalem, Manzanita. No traffic at all, absolutely stunning scenery. Campgrounds in Vernonia, Big Eddy County Park, and Spruce Run Park. But you will want 32 mm tires to deal with 10 miles of rough gravel in the middle of the Lower Nehalem River Road.